GAS
by aceofqueens23
Summary: The team is attacked at the bullpen and must go into lock down late into the night. The silent killer they are up against may be too much for some of the members to handle. Can they ban together and think of a way out, and will they all survive? R&R pleas
1. Chapter 1

All was quiet at NCIS headquarters. The only noise to be heard was the shuffling of papers and the hammering away of computer keys coming from the bullpen that belonged to the agency's number one team.

Gibbs and his team were working late into the night investigating a case involving a terrorist cell that was rumored to be planning an attack on some government agency. Although Gibbs had explained to Director Morrow how ridiculous it was to be investigating a threat because of all the hundreds of threats the government receives each day, but Morrow had insisted that this one was different, he had called it a "gut feeling".

Abby was begged by Tony to go out and get some pizza, so that is exactly what she was doing. Ducky and Palmer were down in autopsy trying to finish the abnormally high count of dead bodies they had recently received from a surge in case numbers. It was nearing 2 am and the team was getting nowhere on the seemingly pointless mission to stop an attack they believed was never going to happen.

They all took a break from the tireless work, including Gibbs, to eat some well-deserved pizza. McGee called down to autopsy to invite Dr. Mallard and Jimmy, and soon they were all enjoying the meal.

"So Zee-vah, how did your date go?" asked Tony.

"What date?" replied Ziva

"Yeah Ziva," said a curious Abby. "Who is this mystery man?"

"There is no mystery man," said a slightly embarrassed Ziva. " I do not know what you talking about Tony."

"Speaking of dating, are you still dating that blonde chick from the coffee shop Tony?" asked McGee, trying to change the subject.

"Of course. Girls like her don't come around often," said Tony, with his eyes wide and a 100 watts smile shining as his gaze drifted away as if recalling some truly amazing memories about her. WHACK.

"Sorry boss…" said Tony as he rubbed the back of his head.


	2. Chapter 2

--Sorry about the Director Morrow/Ziva mishap, but I really dislike Jenny. &&Vance … just no. Also DISCLAIMER: as much as I wish it weren't true, I do not own any of the NCIS Characters or anything that could get me in trouble. I'm only having some fun with them.

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"This pizza is REALLY hitting the spot…" said a euphoric Palmer.

The entire squad was basically silent while enjoying the numerous boxes of their delicious late night snack, a true sign of their appreciation for this break. They were so preoccupied with the meal before them that the slow hiss coming from the air vents went unheard.

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"I'm getting a headache, anyone got any aspirin ?" asked a clearly uncomfortable Tony, picking his head up off his supporting hand.

"I thought you were used to staying up 'late into the night, working hard' if I am not mistaken, you were just enlightening us moments ago with this news DEE-Nozzo" said Ziva whose eyebrows were raised as if she were proving a point.

"Ha..Ha," outbursted Tony flatly. "Seriously, anyone got any?" His discomfort and angry mood becoming more evident.

"No, sorry Tony," said a still busy McGee, not taking his eyes off his computer screen.

Tony looked to Ziva who simply shook her head. Tony gazed at Gibbs, waiting for a response. Then it hit him, Gibbs would never need aspirin, the man has never even had a cold. Gibbs looked up, catching Tony's daze.

"Right, Boss…" Tony said, returning to work.

A few minutes later, Tony laid his head down on his desk. He was tired.

"DiNozzo…" said Gibbs in a warning tone. "Get to work."

"Just a five minute rest. I'm a little tired." Came Tony's muffled voice from the smashing of his face into the hard desk.

Gibbs shook his head to himself, "Fine. Five! But that's it". His tone was harsh, but they all knew the gentleness insinuated, it was the least Tony deserved.

Soon Tony's snores filled the bullpen. Ziva snickered at the roar eminating from his side of the room, and Gibbs and McGee even shared a look of entertainment at the noise. Just as Gibbs was about to do one of his shouts to scare the living daylights out of DiNozzo, he heard something peculiar. He stood up, looking intrigued, and made slow steps towards his senior field agent's desk. He crouched down next to the snoring man, ear first, and sure enough there it was. It was quiet, almost inaudible beneath the snore, but it was definitely there. It was a gurgling sound he had only heard once before, and it was a time he hated to recollect on. It was the same haunting noise that the damned plague caused to come from a man he liked to think of as a son he never had.

"Not again," said Gibbs in a rough whisper, more to himself than anything else.

"DiNozzo!" shouted Gibbs. Ziva and McGee flinched in their chairs, even though they had been watching Gibbs and the look of concern they caught as he approached Tony's desk.

Tony didn't budge.

"DiNozzo, get your ass up!" said Gibbs in an angry tone. Angry at what he suspected, not his agent.

Still, Tony snored away. Ziva and Tim looked on at the two men, wondering why Tony was acting so uncharacteristically. Usually, it did take a little bit to get him awake, as Ziva recalled the need of water being dumped over his head the day they were held hostage while undercover. Although it had been a long day, Tony would have woken up to Gibbs' booming voice any day. He must be coming down with something…

"Must be sick or something," said McGee.

Gibbs grabbed Tony's shoulder and shook him vigorously, "Wake up Tony." Gibbs' tone was more of a plead than the order it had been just seconds ago.

Gently Tony turned his head towards Gibbs, still keeping it on the table. He opened his eyes up to slits and squinted into the eyes of his boss. The sight of his boss so close to him with such a weird look on his face startled him, causing a sharp intake of breath. A deep, wet cough was the result of this action. Tony was surprised at this, he didn't remember feeling this sick a few minutes ago. His head was killing him he just realized, and his chest had a tightening feeling. He would try and hide it from his team, he didn't need anymore attention, especially the kind that involved weird tests, white rooms, and exposing gowns. Besides, it was probably just a bug he thought.

"You sick DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs in a serious voice. Not budging an inch from his seated position on Tony's desk.

Ziva and McGee got up from their desks and came to inspect on their own why that wretched noise just came out of their partner.

"Yeah, that cough sounded…bad." Said McGee, a look of concern seen in his eyes.

"No. Just the weather. You know, it's cold outside. Lungs get a little shaky when I go running outside, I'm sure that's all," said Tony. There was a weird wheezing noise that they heard when he was taking his breaths in between words. This startled not only his teammates but Tony himself. The next thing he knew he was doubled over in a coughing fit that sized up to the ones he would never forget from the time he had the plague, this wasn't good.

Tony sat back up, out of breath, and the hyperventilating began. The breaths he were taking were short and noisy. Definitely not efficient, Gibbs ran behind his desk and tried to calm him. He wouldn't last long breathing like that.

Ziva turned to McGee and told him to call Ducky, she was going to get Tony some water.

Tony had a look of panic on his face, and the short wheezy breaths were frightening him. He was beginning to see spots.

"Tony, breathe normal! Slow down!" said Gibbs, being stern was a way of making sure Tony did what he wanted. He kept his hand on his back was attempting to hold Tony still from the squirming and wriggling he was doing, in attempt to get a full breath of air. Tony was getting worse, and he didn't know exactly what to do. He did however recall one sure-fire method of getting DiNozzo to respond.

THWACK

Tony's breathing settled, but the wheezing noise was still there. Tony looked up at his Boss. The sight Ziva saw as she rounded the corner, cup of water in-hand, was not pretty. Tony was out of breath, sweat beads rolling on his forehead, with fear visible in his eyes. The same fear could be seen in her Boss'. She stood dumbfounded at this sight, this wasn't good.


	3. Chapter 3

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"Palmer is on the way up. Ducky couldn't leave, he is 'elbow-deep in a Lance Corporal'" said McGee, a look of slight disgust on his face.

Tony's breathing wasn't getting any better. They all surrounded him at his desk, worried and unsure at what to do. This came on so fast, they had no idea what could be wrong.

Tony began another round of coughing. It looked painful on his face and he clutched his chest. His eyes were pinched shut and the sound the coughs made were awful. Ziva felt like she should turn away when one of his coughs became bone rattling.

Gibbs and McGee sat patting Tony on the back. Afraid to take their eyes of the struggling and desperate agent.

Suddenly his breathing stopped mid-cough, and Tony flailed his arms up, signifying he couldn't breath. Gibbs whacked his back harder and harder.

"Where the hell is Palmer?" said McGee looking up indespair.

Tony looked up and the edges of the world were beginning to fade to black. Gibbs was whaling on his back, and McGee and Ziva were all but cheerleading for Tony on the side to breath and try and cough, but so far nothing.

Finally, with a whack so hard that Tony almost flew out of his chair, a moist gurgle was heard as air was finally entering Tony. Slowly, but it was still entering. Tony was still struggling to breathe, and Gibbs was still patting his back, trying to make it better.

With one more loud and powerful pound to his back, DiNozzo began coughing a little harder. It was harder like a struggle, but more like he was on to something, like a mission that only he knew about. He raised his hand in front of him mouth to catch whatever he was expecting to cough up.

Although he was expecting something, the something that came flying out of his mouth was far from expected.

"What's wrong ?" asked an innocent Palmer, approaching the group, still unable to see over the huddle of teammates. "Dr. Mallard sent me up to see the problem, and then I will relay the information back to him so he can make the proper …"

"Ohhh." Said a shocked Palmer. He was staring in shock, as was the rest of the people in the bullpen, at the clump of blood-tinged goop splattered on the back of Agent DiNozzo's hand.

They were pulled from their hypnosis by the wheezing sound of hyperventilation from their beloved teammate and friend.

"I'm gonna go get Ducky." Said Palmer, he knew he was in over his head. off to the races as he sprinted towards the stairwell.


	4. Chapter 4

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"It is going to be alright Tony." Said Ziva in an effort to calm her struggling friend. "Ducky will be up here soon. He will know what to do."

"Just keep breathing Tony." Said Gibbs

"I …don't …know if this is…." Came Tony's ragged and shaky voice in between deep, wet coughs. "considered breathing." He coughed again, this one harsher than the usual, and more bloody goop escaped his mouth as he spit into the trashcan McGee had given him earlier.

Then, the lights dimmed, and computers turned off, and the sound of heavy metal locks being automatically slammed on the doors of MTAC, then the stairwell door.

They all looked around at the strange occurrence. All of them but Tony, who was more focused on the tightening he now felt in his throat. This was not good, and he knew it.

"What's going on?" asked a stunned McGee. "Why did the computers turn off, and the lights and the doors making those noises?"

"Lockdown," said Gibbs.

"Lockdown?" said a stunned Ziva. "But why?"

"Someone has to initiate lockdown from inside the building." Said McGee, who is up on all the tech requirements for the building's emergency procedures. "We are the only ones here, except Ducky and Palmer, and…" He was cut off by Ziva.

"But they know we need help, they would not lock down the building" said Ziva in a sudden panic.

More coughs erupted from their declining team member. "Abby.." Tony managed in between gasps and wracking coughs. More blood came up, and he spit it into the trashcan. Tony's head now rested on his hands, which were propped up on his knees. He was strategically placed so his low hanging head was directly over the trashcan, so the bloody sputure he was coughing could easily be disposed of.

"That's right. Abby is still down in her lab." Said Gibbs. "She must have initiated it."

"But why?" asked Ziva. It was a question no one knew t he answer to.

For as much of a baby as Tony could be about the smallest things, he was definitely being tough about this predicament. McGee knew that if he were in Tony's shoes, things would probably not be the same.

Suddenly, the plasma turned on. Abby's lab emerged, and the look of panic on Abby's face was clearly seen. "Are you guys okay?"

"No. What the hell is going on?" asked an angry Gibbs. Mad more at the situation than Abby.

"Well, I was getting bored just surfing around on the internet, so I started doing some tests in the lab, and you know how that goes, once I get going …" she was rambling.

"ABBY!" snapped Gibbs. "Something is wrong with Tony, and we need to get him medical attention. ASAP! Now did you start the lockdown?"

"Oh, no." said Abby, panicking as she paced around her lab. She was grabbing at her hair, and obviously she knew something that they didn't."

"It wasn't me.." said Abby. "I thought it was you guys, but there's something else you should know."

"I was on my way up to warn you guys, but then the elevator doors slammed shut in my face." Abby began. "I was running some tests, as I said earlier, and I was just messing around with some chemicals, so I had the radiation detector on when I was done, to check and see if I cleaned everything up, it's SOP…"

"Spit it out Abby!" said Gibbs, Ziva and McGee in unison.

"There's a poison gas leak in the building!" she finally yelled, skipping the rest of the story.

"You leaked poison gas Abby? What kind of experiments were you performing?" asked McGee, outraged at the idea.

"NO! That was the point of the rest of the story I was trying to get at." Her mouth was moving at close to a mile a minute. "As soon as I turned it on, in the other room from my experiments, the thing was going off."

Gibbs ran over to the other side of the room where Tony was nearly passed out on his hands over the trashcan.

"That must be what is wrong with him," asked Gibbs. "Ziva call Ducky and see if he can get up here somehow."

"Hang in there Tony, we know what's wrong. Everything is gonna be fine," he said this with false confidence, almost as if trying to convince himself.

He put his hand on Tony's shoulder; he was steaming hot, and drenched with sweat.

"C'mon Tony, let's get you out of these clothes before you melt into a damned puddle."

"The phones aren't working!" said Ziva, slamming the phone down in frustration.

Gibbs was doing all the work as Tony sit back limply, gasping for some much needed air as Gibbs try and pry the wet, clinging clothes off his gravely looking agent. "Did you try your cell phone?"

"It doesn't work either!" said McGee, who had been trying to call 911 on it for EMT's for Tony as well as police for the mysterious lockdown they still hadn't solved.

"DiNozzo!" yelled Gibbs as he grabbed Tony's limp form, slowing his descent to the floor. "Get Ducky on video conference! NOW!"

"I can't, the lockdown has froze all or our computers and phones!" said McGee.

"I can do it," replied a scared Abby, frightened for Tony as she witnessed his collapse.

"Jethro, is that you?" asked Ducky.

"Yeah, Duck!" yelled Gibbs from across the room where he was trying to make the barely conscious Tony comfortable. He figured the ground wasn't a bad place for Tony, it was less taxing to lie down, and the temperature was a lot cooler.

As Gibbs stood up from Tony's side, he had to pause briefly to catch his balance and fight the light-headedness. The gas must be getting to him. Not good.

Ziva and McGee went over to take over Gibbs' place by their fallen comrade, so Gibbs could get closer to the plasma and discuss the situation with Dr. Mallard. They kept their headaches silent, as they weren't the ones in grave danger, as Tony had appeared to be deeply in.

"There's some sort of gas leak, and Tony's having a bad reaction to it I think," said Gibbs sadly. "I think the gas is getting to the rest of us too."

"Oh my!" said an exasperated Ducky. "You need to get out of there immediately Jethro!"

"Have you not noticed the lockdown?" said an upset, angered Gibbs.

"The longer you all are in exposure, the lesser the chance of survival! You must get out of there, now!" said Ducky. He began to pace wildly across the room. "What are the symptoms of Tony?"

"It's bad Duck," said Gibbs, trying to say quietly enough to keep this from reaching Tony's ears and lessening his morale. "He's wheezing, and having these fits of hyperventilating."

"Oh dear god," said a worried Ducky.

"And that's not all. He began coughing up these huge, hard, almost solid clumps of bloody guck." Said Gibbs; just realizing that Palmer must not have made it back to Ducky.

"Well, it is no doubt that young Anthony is facing harsher symptoms sooner than the rest of you because of the level of vulnerability his bout with the plague has cursed him with." Said the doctor.

"You need to keep him low to the ground. Elevate his head and shoulders; this should make it slightly easier to breathe for the poor lad. Give him some water, and try and keep his fever down. Splash with water as needed if he feels hot, and take off all the excess clothing." Said the doctor. "But most importantly you need to make a breathing barrier."

"A what?" asked Gibbs.

"Does anyone have a thin dress shirt on?" asked Ducky.

Cough Cough "Me," came the struggling voice of Tony.

"Well, first of all get that off of him, you do not want him overheating."

Gibbs had taken off Tony's suit coat and tie earlier, but hadn't bothered with the thin shirt.

"Okay Tony, we are going to sit you up." Said McGee

McGee and Gibbs lifted his limp form off the ground as Ziva unbuttoned his shirt.

"Now Tony, don't think that this will ever happen again," said Ziva in a playful tone, an attempt to keep spirits high. "Me taking off your shirt….a one time thing"

"Well… cough… cough COUGH… I can do..cough.. the undress, undressing" said Tony. Pain was evident in his scratchy and weak voice, but the slight smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth was enough to give everyone a giggle, a MUCH needed giggle.


End file.
